Category: Doctor Who

It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.

So says Steven Moffat, with the news that the showrunner for Doctor Who since series 5 will be leaving after the next series in 2017, and that Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall will inherit the role subsequently. Moffat has been in charge of the series since the arrival of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, and has seen several companions and two other Doctors introduced in the meantime.

His final series, the 10th, will not be released until 2017, however, meaning this year all we’ll have of Doctor Who is a Christmas special at the end of the year. This is apparently so as to give Moffat’s big finale a proper send-off, although it seems more likely that the BBC want to keep it off the airwaves for a year in order to rebuild a little interest after declining viewership through 2015.

The current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, has not stated whether he will be staying on to the Chibnall era or leaving with Moffat. There’ll definitely be a new companion by the time we reach 2017, however, following the departure of Jenna Coleman at the end of this year.